SHIVERS (directed by David Cronenberg, 1975)

Join us for a very special screening of one of David Cronenberg’s earlier films, which is only shown infrequently. A lively discussion will follow.

Dr. Emil Hobbes is conducting unorthodox experiments with parasites for use in transplants. He believes that humanity has become over-rational and lost contact with its flesh and its instincts, so the effects of the alien organism he actually develops is a combination of aphrodisiac and venereal disease. Once implanted, it causes uncontrollable sexual desire in the host.

A classic of body horror, the film all takes place in an isolated luxury apartment building on an island off of Montreal. It reflects anxieties about an epidemic of infectious disease, cross-bred with good old-fashioned moral panic.

A truly Canadian pre-Halloween delight!

CINEMA MEDICA IS A MONTHLY FILM SERIES EXAMINING REPRESENTATIONS OF MEDICAL, SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THEMES IN CINEMA.

The series is curated by Elysse Leonard MA ( Toronto International Film Festival) and Dr. Michael Tau ( Chief Resident in Psychiatry), in conjunction with the Program In Health, Arts and Humanities, University of Toronto.